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How can a society break out
from the shackles of divisive-
ness, prejudices and small-mind-
edness? How do we build upon
unique strengths and establish
new foundations upon which our
civilisation will thrive more har-
moniously than today?
Given diversity of race, religion
and politics, and the greed in
human nature, it is unrealistic to
expect that people would live in
total harmony. There will always
be disruptions. Nevertheless all
civilisations throughout time
engaged in research, science, and
innovation to advance cultures.
We see their achievements in
architecture, scientific discoveries,
laws, and timeless literature.
Spirituality underscored psycho-
logical and cultural growth.
Civilisation is about progress. It
is a continuum of societies
advancing toward higher ideals
for socialising and thoughtfully
engaging the future. It has much
to do with how we synchronise
human expertise to bring about
cohesion, and that takes leader-
ship with critical thinking capaci-
ty.Regrettably, it appears that we
have found ourselves in a state of
social regress, and that is charac-
terised by coarseness in how we
engage each other and the
relentless tearing down of inde-
pendent institutions. The quality
of service has declined both in
the public and private sectors.
On the balance, we have made
strides since Independence in the
percentage of the population that
own homes, vehicles and other
assets, and more people have
access to education and health-
care. But, it may be stretching
the mind to interpret material
improvements as evidence of
improvement in the overall quali-
ty of life, if we use the gauges of
blood crimes and corruption.
What about the future? How
do we use national strengths to
solve the many challenges in
health, education, security to
mention a few areas? Apart from
abundant natural resources and
human expertise, the legacies of
achievers are significant
strengths.
In paying tribute to the late
Michael Mansoor, speakers men-
tioned his leadership skills. The
University of the West Indies
(UWI) said he had an interest in
seeing the "university diversify its
source of income and becoming a
more independently sustainable
institution." Maybe there are
examples of his business strate-
gies that could help UWI s man-
agement achieve that goal.
Others mentioned his excellent
negotiating skills and integrity.
UWI knows how to bring into
the classroom events that
brought out those qualities.
Through academic case studies,
the sound examples of leaders in
professions across all sectors can
find space in the curriculum. The
case methodology of teaching
will stimulate critical thinking
about our civilisation and oppor-
tunities to advance it. It can
inspire young professionals to
emulate good examples of politi-
cal and corporate behaviour.
Examples of how achievers had
worked their way to the top ech-
elons of industry and commerce
and added value to their busi-
nesses may help graduates to
understand the hill they must
climb to achieve their ambitions,
and that a degree is not an auto-
matic visa to the top.
Educational institutions are at
the centre of civilisation. UWI
rightly prides itself on producing
leaders who were Nobel Prize
winners, entrepreneurs, academ-
ics, artists, and country leaders.
Its list of honorary graduands is
impressive.
The core values guiding its
policy and decision making are
integrity, intellectual freedom,
excellence, civic responsibility,
accessibility, diversity and equity.
Significantly, the members of its
alumni and its honorary grad-
uands aptly demonstrated these
values, but its thousands of stu-
dents don t benefit from learning
about their stewardship?
What were the teaching
methodologies used by educators
Bro Michael Samuel and Dr Anna
Mahase in sustaining institutional
and student excellence, and how
relevant are these today?
Mr Michael Mansoor once
asked students of a graduating
class, "Why do we have a world
famous Cocoa Research Unit with
a world famous International
Cocoa Genebank and we rank
nowhere among the cocoa pro-
ducers of the world?" That said
all we need to know about our
resourcefulness and priorities,
more so considering the quest for
economic diversification.
He asked another question,
"Have we thought about the
impact of having people now
dependent on unemployment
relief programmes exchanging
their ten-day assignments for the
higher paying jobs in the infor-
mation industry?"
Mansoor sent the message that
we shouldn t put boundaries
around human potential and stig-
matise people because of social
circumstances. These boundaries
are the shackles of prejudice and
ignorance.
Shouldn t the universities col-
laborate and produce case studies
on regional corporations with the
objective of engaging students in
critical thinking about the state
of leadership, organisational cul-
ture, and the transformation
needed for global competitive-
ness? This will complement
international case studies.
Most discussion in academia on
leadership focuses on foreign
entrepreneurs and foreign country
leaders. That s fine, but keeping
in the minds of future genera-
tions the contributions of local
and regional achievers would
serve to strengthen and continue
traditions of excellence, build
esteem, and give depth to the
culture of local civilization?
The focus now should be on
building the future and not on
devaluing institutions of excel-
lence that have served us well.
Communication is the bedrock of
civilization that could unshackle
us from divisiveness, prejudices
and small-mindedness.
A21
commentary
November 23, 2014 www.guardian.co.tt Sunday Guardian
HELEN DRAYTON
In more recent times, there has
been considerable debate about
the power of the Prime Minister
to dissolve the Parliament which
is contained in the Constitution.
While such a power no longer
exists in the Westminster model
since 2011, when the British Par-
liament enacted the Fixed-Term
Parliaments Act, other Common-
wealth countries still have such a
power available to their prime
ministers.
At the opening of the Fifth
Session of the current Parliament
on August 4, Prime Minister
Kamla Persad-Bissessar told the
House of Representatives of the
intention of her Government to
bring to Parliament legislation
that would prescribe fixed dates
for elections.
In many respects, such legisla-
tion could resemble the reforms
that have already been imple-
mented at Westminster.
In T&T, we still operate under
the provisions of the 1976
republican Constitution that
were a virtual replica of the 1962
independence Constitution. The
key to the life of any Parliament
is the date on which its first sit-
ting is held after any general
election. That will determine the
full count of five years for
anniversary-date purposes, as
opposed to using the general
election date as the starting
point.
On October 5, I had reason, in
this column, to challenge former
Cabinet minister Peter Taylor
over his interpretation of the
Constitution in respect of the
holding of a general election.
Last Sunday, the comments
made by the Leader of the
Opposition, Dr Keith Rowley, at
the PNM Convention, seemed to
resemble the comments that had
been made by Peter Taylor in his
newspaper commentary on the
same subject. The Attorney Gen-
eral, Anand Ramlogan, was quick
to challenge Dr Rowley in order
to set the record straight.
The actual words used by Dr
Rowley were: "Let me tell the
Prime Minister, the parliamen-
tary term ends in June 2015, the
five-year term of the Govern-
ment ends on May 24, and the
period between the second week
of June and September is only
for emergencies."
It was surprising that Dr Row-
ley could have had such an
interpretation put into his speech
by his speechwriter and that the
error was not caught by those
who would normally vet such
speeches before he made the
public delivery last Sunday. As a
consequence, the error is now
charged to him and not those
who assisted him in preparing
his speech.
The Constitution is clear on
the issue of the dissolution of
Parliament and the holding of
general elections. Sections 68
and 69 make the following spe-
cific provisions:
"68.(1) The President, acting in
accordance with the advice of
the Prime Minister, may at any
time prorogue or dissolve Parlia-
ment.
(2) Subject to subsection (3),
Parliament, unless sooner dis-
solved, shall continue for five
years from the date of its first
sitting after any dissolution, and
shall then stand dissolved."
"69.(1) A general election of
members of the House of Repre-
sentatives shall be held at such
time within three months after
every dissolution of Parliament
as the President, acting in accor-
dance with the advice of the
Prime Minister, shall appoint."
These provisions are crystal
clear and they have been used
many times over the years in
relation to the holding of general
elections on dates that occurred
later than either the previous
general election or later than the
fifth anniversary of the date on
which the previous Parliament
first sat.
The classic case of the longest
period between a dissolution and
a general election took place in
1976, when the Parliament sat
until its last day on June 18,
having been convened on June
18, 1971. There was controversy
at the time as to whether Parlia-
ment could be convened on the
anniversary date of its fifth year.
Nevertheless, Dr Williams sub-
sequently advised that a general
election should be held on Mon-
day, September 13. In every
respect, that scenario could be
repeated in 2015, as there was no
emergency in 1976.
Other occasions where this
extended period has occurred, in
relation to the next general elec-
tion being held on a date later
than the previous one or later
than the fifth-anniversary date of
the Parliament, took place in
1981, when the general election
was held on November 9, which
exceeded the five-year date on
which the previous Parliament
had been convened on Septem-
ber 24, 1976 (which actually
became our Republic Day, to
commemorate the first sitting of
the First Parliament of the
Republic).
In 1986, the general election
was held on December 15, which
fell beyond the fifth-anniversary
on which the previous Parlia-
ment first sat on November 27,
1981.
In 2000, the general election
was held on December 11, which
fell beyond the fifth-anniversary
of the date of the first sitting of
the previous Parliament on
November 27, 1995.
Likewise, a general election
was held on November 5, 2007,
which exceeded the fifth
anniversary of the previous Par-
liament, which first sat on Octo-
ber 17, 2002.
In none of these cases was
there any emergency which
caused these general elections to
be held on these dates which
exceeded the fifth anniversaries
of the previous Parliaments.
DR HAMID GHANY
hamid.ghany@sta.uwi.edu
DEBATING DISSOLUTION
BREAK THE SHACKLES OF DIVISIVENESS